Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:

To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what recent steps he has taken to support the natural regeneration of trees in (a) Newcastle-under-Lyme constituency, (b) Staffordshire and (c) England.

Across England, Countryside Stewardship Higher Tier does provide grant support for natural regeneration (including WD2 and WS2) in line with a UK Forestry Standard approved Woodland Management Plan. These grants are demand led, which means that the Forestry Commission welcomes applicants for sites that meet the criteria from any constituency.

In addition to supporting natural regeneration of woodland within existing woodlands through Countryside Stewardship Higher Tier there is grant support for natural colonisation (woodland expansion through natural processes) through the England Woodland Creation Offer.

We do not collate this information at constituency or county level.